Bakura's Hell
by Oren Soryu
Summary: (no summary available)
1. Puzzle of Ancient

Chapter 1: Puzzle of Ancient

/blah blah/ yugi talking to yami

blah blahyami talking to yugi

The last day of school finally arrived. The seniors had decided as an end of school treat to trash the school (Not a remotely bad idea.). Toilet paper was everywhere as the kids fought to get out before the teachers snagged them. Some people were having a hard time. Bakura was jammed in the side entrance by his fan club (not really his fan club but a band of Bakura mooning girls). Miho got trapped when Tristan once again tried his very best (which wasn't very good) to play her over. Joey got in another fight just outside the schoolyard where the professors couldn't get to him. Seto Kaiba, however, just walked arrogantly past everyone else and got into his car. Yugi and Tea were probably the only teens unoccupied. Then again, Yugi was so small no one noticed him anyway and Tea was too dangerous to mess with.

First they rescued Bakura from being forced to write his signature with lipstick. Then Tea pulled Tristan from Miho by his ear (Tristan: "Owowowowow! Hey! I was really getting to her! Lemmego, get off me, you delinquents!" Tea: "Wow, you learned a new word! Forget it, Tristan, she's never going to like you, you're a fat ugly idiot to her then again, you are to me, too." ) Bakura and Yugi laughed. Finally they wrestled Joey out of the fight (Actually Tristan helped Joey kick the living daylights out of the enemy and then they got out of the fight while Yugi and the rest watched).

"

K!" Joey said through cracked and bleeding lips as they walked down the street. "Gramps' shop now, right?"

"Yup," Yugi replied. "You've never seen it before Bakura?!?"

Bakura's scream tore through the air. Running toward the voice, they saw him lying on the ground, bruised and terribly beaten up. He wasn't moving. Yugi checked his pulse and felt it beat weakly. White-faced, he yelled, "Somebody call an ambulance! Now!"

Seto Kaiba sat in the backseat of his car, running math problems and stock market predictions in his head. He felt the car pull over and looked out the window to see an ambulance speed by. Was it just his eyes or did he just notice Yugi and Joey in the window? He had of course seen Joey kick butt outside the schoolyard (or the other way around), but then that would mean he would be lying on the stretcher. He sighed. Whether he liked it or not, Kaiba was indebted to Yugi for saving his skin and Mokuba's when Pegasus stole their souls.

"Change of plans. Follow that ambulance," he told the driver.

"Yes, Mr. Kaiba."

Yugi sat shaking on a bench while Joey laid a comforting hand around his shoulders. The doctor stepped out of the intensive care unit, grim-faced.

"This will be hard," he said. "This fellow's got it off pretty bad. He took direct blows to the head. The skull cracked. From the X-rays we believe several splinters of the bone are in his brain. It's a surprise he's even alive this long. Do you know what happened to him?"

Shuddering violently, Yugi shook his head. Joey, Tea, and Tristan did the same.

"Care to explain what happened?"

As Joey launched into explanation, Yugi cut himself off from his best friend's words and directed his attention to his Millennium Puzzle.

/Yami? /yes, young one?

/Yami, you heard everything. What's going on? /

I do not yet know. Does he still have his Ring? The Eye? In the name of Amon-Ra, if those are missing, hell will erupt.

/shoot! I never thought about that. But/

but what, child?

/will he survive? He is so close to death already. He's my friend! /

That remains to be seen, Yugi. I am a Pharaoh, not a God.

/I wish you were. /

even so, it will not change the situation. If I were a God I would not speak to you. Keep your faith, little one! Not in the cards, not this time, but in yourself and Bakura's will to live. I must contemplate this. Search for the Items!

Yugi snapped to attention early enough to hear the doctor comment, "There might be a way. An operation, very expensive, about $10,000, could save him, but only if we work quickly. And even then he might not survive. If he does, God willing, he'll be crippled for life. What do you say?"

Joey met Yugi's gaze of helplessness and confessed softly, "I'm sorry Yug, I spent all my money on Serenity's eye surgery. I'm really sorry, bud."

Tea's eyes watered. "I-I'm calling his dad in England to let him know¦" she choked, stumbling toward the payphone, silent tears streaking down her face. After a meaningful glare from Tristan, Joey and Tristan followed her, leaving Yugi alone with the doc. Again he probed inside him, for Yami, but found the doors shut in his face as the spirit thought deeply. He touched his face, and to his surprise felt wetness there. How could he cry without noticing?

A sudden voice behind him startled Yugi into lifting his head.

"I believe I can help," said Seto Kaiba.

Yugi whirled around. "Kaiba?" he exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

"To repay a debt," he replied shortly. Yugi knew what he meant. Shifting his attention to the doctor he asked, "How much for the operation?"

"$10,000, Mr. Kaiba. It's a hell of a lot of money, if you ask me." The doctor subsided under Kaiba's steel-hard glare. Scribbling in his checkbook, the President of KaibaCorp ripped out the check and thrust it under the doctor's nose. The medic frowned. "That's only $2,000."

Kaiba's eyes narrowed. "I have health insurance. Very good health insurance."

The doctor quailed and nodded. Snatching the check with trembling hands, he hurried into the room where Bakura hung between the balance of life and death. Nodding with satisfaction, Kaiba turned his deep blue eyes to Yugi.

"Who is it this time? The old man again?" it was surprising how a cold arrogant man could change his voice to mild respect in an instant.

Yugi shook his head. "Bakura," he whispered.

"Bakura? Not that exchange kid who came in the beginning of the year?"

Yugi nodded.

"Yugi," (it wasn't a question) "I don't believe I'll ever be able to fully repay you. I don't like being in debt. I hardly ever have. What should I do?"

"What you just did," Yugi said in a hollow voice. It was so uncomfortable giving Kaiba advice, like he was equal. He was always superior over him before.

Just then Tea, Joey, and Tristan walked in.

"His dad is coming as soon as he can. I don't-," Tristan started.

"Kaiba?" Joey shouted.

Far from the respect he had been showing Yugi, Kaiba stared coldly at Joey and said, "So, the slobbering dueling monkey can't bear to see the man who defeated him like the whimpering dog he is."

Joey growled. "We'll see who's whimperin', Kaiba, when I bash the little brains you got!"

"Don't waste your breath. I could drop you where you stand with a twitch of my leg-,"

"Shut up!" Tea yelled through trickling tears. "This is about Bakura, not some stupid grudge! Shut-the-hell-up!"

Joey and Kaiba backed off with piercing glares. They didn't notice that while they were busy, Yugi had slipped inside Bakura's room and was sitting by his bed. Doctors swarmed around him, using weird tools and instruments to try and save his life. Through the tangle of arms and legs, Yugi searched for the Ring. They hadn't put him in one of those long shirts, and everything he originally had was still on him. Try as he might, he couldn't find it. Squeezing unnoticed through the mass of doctors, Yugi stuck his hand in Bakura's pockets, feeling for the Eye. It wasn't there either. He also realized his Duel Monsters deck was gone.

/Yami, wake up. /

What?

/he doesn't have them. Or his deck. I'm sure. /

shoot!!

/you know what that means, right? /

Pegasus

/what does he want now? /

the same things as before.

/wha the Items!/

release me. Now

/but/

what?

/I want to stay with Bakura/

you will. Don't worry

/good/

Yugi backed into a corner as Yami Yugi emerged. This time, as he struggled to get near Bakura, the doctors noticed him and shooed him out.

/see? Being a midget has its advantages. /

oh, shut the hell up

/nasty little drill sergeant, aren't you? /

Pharaoh, yes. Drill sergeant-methinks not in this millennium. Or any

Tea and Tristan jumped in surprise as Yami Yugi came back into the hall. Kaiba was leaning unconcerned on the wall as Joey asked, "Hey man, where you been?"

He sighed and leaned against the wall. "His Millennium Items are gone, I just checked, and now who knows what is going to happen. We have to find them."

Kaiba's eyes flashed. He pushed himself off the wall and said calmly despite his steel-clipped face, "Well, if that Eye is out again I'd better get Mokuba. Goodbye."

As he passed Joey, he muttered, "Dog."

Joey, pissed, made furious motions toward Kaiba. Tea caught his shoulder. Knowing, somehow, just knowing, Yami stuffed Yugi around in the soul room just as Joey's eyes met Tea's and they stared at each other with a kind of longing that would torment Yugi for months.

/ow. What did u do that for, Yami? /

grown-up stuff.

Yugi's mind voice was becoming irritated

/oh, just cause I'm smaller, less adapted to "real stuff", I'm being stuffed in the soul room? I hate this! Bakura's gonna die, the Items are gone, and I can't even try to see what's happening. Pharaoh-the day you act like a pharaoh is when you stop thinking about some Items and save Bakura before he's gone. idiot/

Yami didn't like it when his friend didn't trust him. He loved Yugi the way a father might love a son, and he would do anything to protect him. And yet, he knew Yugi needed to try out his own wings. He sighed inwardly. Ancient Egyptian proverb-the only way to protect something is to let it free. However, he let the Tea-Joey thing drop.

Yugi, don't let this go to your head. But, understand, if we're too late to stop whoever's doing this, then Bakura will die anyway, and everyone else with him, only dark powers can come when someone steals Items.

Yugi was still angry, but he knew Yami Yugi was too dignified to admit to a suggestion without a good reason. A good reason

/if you don't save him, make him right all the way, then it'll probably be too late to stop whoever has them/

what are you getting at?

/only Bakura knows who attacked him, right?/

ah. But didn't we agree it was Pegasus?

/no, we assumed. Don't ever assume./

lesson learned. But we cannot save Bakura, we don't know how

Then he saw Yugi's mental face set oddly tight, and cried

no, Yugi! Stop!

/you don't even know what I'm gonna do/

what ever it is, I sense its not good! Stop!

he felt the Millennium Puzzle grow hot. Unbearably hot. He raised the Millennium Puzzle to his face and watched as something that looked like neither water nor air well in the small groove of the iris of the Eye of Anubis. Like a tear threatening to fall.


	2. An Unknown Past

Chapter 2: An Unknown Past

The air-water leaked out and plummeted to the ground. An inch from the cheap tiling it halted, constantly shifting shape as it rose slowly to mid-height. Expanding it solidified into a ghostlike image of Yugi, a determined shine in his semi-transparent eye. Someone gasped faintly in the background but the former pharaoh didn't notice as he only watched helplessly as he turned once more into a blob, which zoomed to Bakura's ER door and seeped through the cracks around it.

All the while, Tea, Tristan, and Joey watched silently as Yami's eyes and face tightened (They too knew about the whole Yami thing.). When the air-water pictured Yugi, Tea gasped loudly.

A few seconds later a shrill moan came from the other side of the door. There was a noisy cheer from the doctors as Yugi's voice protested, "No, I'm fine, stop, I'm not a bonehead!"

The original doc came out, apparently excited.

"It's a miracle!" he yelled. "Not only is he alive, he's sane! He's not paralyzed or anything! It's as if he was never hurt! Can I have your permission to keep him here for a while, to study?"

"I don't know, can you?" Tea said with a wide smile of relief.

The surgeon rolled his eyes. "May I?"

Yami Yugi shook his head firmly. "No. He's coming home, we want him there." Actually he wanted to scream the living hell out of him, but he had a feeling he wouldn't be able to take his Aibou home if he said so.

Disappointed, the doctor disappeared into the ER and came out again with Bakura, his head in bandages.

"Hi guys," he said in Yugi's voice. Joey started, but Bakura (who had Yugi's voice) motioned for them to go with twitches of his head. Joey took the hint, grabbed his arm, and pulled him down the hall to the exit. The others followed him quickly.

When they reached the parking lot after hurriedly signing a release form, Joey opened his mouth to talk but Yami beat him to it.

"What did you do, Aibou?!" he yelled.

Bakura blinked. Or Yugi. It was so confusing. He crossed his arms but didn't answer.

The color was rising in Yami's face. This was odd. He had never showed temperament before. In a soft, dangerous voice, he said, "Aibou, answer me or I will beat the answer out of you."

"Grandpa wouldn't like that."

"ANSWER ME!"

"It's hard!"

"As best as you can, Yugi. I'M WAITING!"

"Alright! I didn't know I could do it, did you? Anyway, I kind of transferred my soul to fill up Bakura's void. He's here, with me, but he's really small and diminished. Wait a sec he's talking to me."

There was a pause and then Yugi/Bakura said, "Bakura says he thinks he knows why he didn't die. He says it wasn't getting hit in the head with a fist once, it was because he was so used to having his Yami inside him that when it was taken from him so quick it kind of made him faint, so they thought he was dead and left him alone. That's what he thinks. And now that I'm here he feels better, but he really needs the Eye to patch him up and the Ring, so he feels like himself again."

"Did he see who did it?" Tristan asked anxiously.

Yugi conferred for a while, and then said, "Well, it isn't Pegasus, cause they were wearing something like a sun and a moon insignia on their suits, he can't say anymore than that. But then again, they might have just been wearing them because they wanted to fool anybody who saw them Yami, why are you looking at me like that?"

Yami's face was agitated. "Idiot," he replied in a tight voice. "Simple fool no, you couldn't know sorry"

"Yami?"

Yami shook his spiked head. "Yugi, if we don't get that Ring back you're gonna have to stay in there until we do. If it takes a long time to do it then you're going to get so used to Bakura's body that it will be so painful to put you back in your own, we might not be able to get you out."

Yami could see Yugi's body lying in the soul room as though dead. He watched Yugi in Bakura's body for a while longer and sighed. "Great," he muttered, kicking at a stray can. The can rolled off a little till it stopped at the feet of a man with a black suit and a sun wrapping around a crescent moon insignia on his chest. Yugi/Bakura gasped, "Its him!"

The man smirked and three more men in the same suit came out of nowhere to stand behind him. He pointed at Yami and boomed, "One word, boy. Your Millennium Puzzle." Then he looked briefly confused and counted one his fingers, then decided it was too hard for a guy who dropped out of elementary school and rushed at the group of teens with his friends.

The Eye of Anubis glittered on Yami's forehead.

"Wait," he demanded, holding an outstretched palm toward the oncoming attackers. They slowed to a stop and snorted. "I challenge you to a little game I used on a bully once." His eyes flickered as he produced a knife out of nowhere. Handing it to the heavy-set man, Yami instructed him to hold in his left hand. Then Yami took paper money out of his pocket and placed it in his right hand.

"The whole point of the game is to draw money from my right hand with your left, without dropping or pricking yourself or me with that knife of yours or dropping any money. We each have a turn. You can only take 5 bills at the maximum every time. If I take all the money before you I lose, and you get my item and all the money. If you do you lose and you tell us who you're working for and leave us alone. Ready?"

The man jeered at Yami. This was too easy. "Oh yeah, sucker. Bring it on!"

Yami nodded. "You first."

The man eyed the bills hungrily. Money he snatched 5 bills quickly and struggled for a while to balance it all in his left hand along with his knife. When he did, he looked up to see Yami staring unnervingly silent at him. The man scowled.

"My turn," Yami said softly, and drew one bill, no problem.

"The whole point of this game," he hissed as he offered his right palm to the man, "Should be easy enough to understand. Go."

The black-suited man sneered but didn't move. His mind working at top speed (not remotely fast), he decided to just stab Yami and take the money and the Puzzle with no hassle. He quickly shot his knife toward Yami's body, who dodged it easily and kicked him in the stomach. He doubled up, wheezing, clutching his chest.

"The whole point of this game was to see if you could control your greed. You couldn't, therefore you lost. Now, answer-who do you work for?"

"N-no one you know cough I'm n-not gonna tell you wheeze " he rasped.

Yami's eyes hardened. "You agreed to this game, you lost, now answer me, as your part of the deal!"

"N-no"

"IS THAT SO?"

"Y-yes"

"WHY NOT?" Yami seemed to grow taller and taller with each passing second.

"Cause she'll kill me and my family dead"

Yami's eyes widened as his friends gasped. "Tell me who it is and I won't let that happen. Trust me!"

"You don't understand!" the man shrieked suddenly, straightening. "Niwatori has other ways of AAAIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

He screamed a heart-rending scream that was cut off as a mountain of fire enveloped him and burned him to ash in seconds. His fellows backed up in fear, then ran. Yami, Yugi/Bakura, Tristan, and Joey stared in wonder and apprehension as the wind blew away some of the ash that was once a man a few seconds ago.

"What just happened 'ere?" Joey asked finally to no one in particular, his voice trembling.

Yami stepped forward and knelt before the ashes, no expression written on his face. He fingered them for a minute before saying in a flat voice, "I have no idea. But now we know we're up against a new enemy that goes by the name of Niwatori who can burn up a guy form who knows where." He closed his eyes, then opened them slowly. "I think it's time to pay a visit to our old friend Kaiba. Again."

Kaiba sat at his desk with his legs on its mahogany surface. His glass of wine was left unattended by his feet as he closed his deep blue eyes, trying to remember what it was that made him so drawn to help Yugi that day. It wasn't the debt, he could have done something else, less expensive, but something else. His thoughts were interrupted as his phone rang. Sighing he lifted his feet off the desk and picked it up, saying formally, "Seto Kaiba here, who are you?"

A familiar voice answered, "It's Yami Yugi. We need to talk, all of us, face to face. I don't trust these modern contraptions. Meet us outside your building in five minutes. Its an emergency." The line went dead. Seto took the receiver from his ear and stared at it a moment before putting it back and rising from his chair, heading downstairs.

Yugi/Bakura wiped sweat off his forehead as the humidity took its toll. Tristan pulled a portable fan from his pocket and blew himself. Tea and Joey also took fans from their pockets and used them as well. Yugi/Bakura scowled.

"How come you guys all have one and I don't?"

Tea shrugged. "You had one, remember, you just gave it to Yami when you found out you could each have a body."

Yugi/Bakura's scowl deepened as he watched Yami grin mischievously and pull another fan from his pocket. Using it, he said innocently, "Wow, it's so cool"

"GRRRR," Yugi/Bakura growled. Then "what? Oh, really? Bakura has his own fan," He reached into Bakura's pocket and drew out a fan identical to Tristan's. Now everyone had the pleasure of a fan blowing in their face. Suddenly Tea sniggered.

"What?" Joey asked. "Is it me? I know I put too much cologne on, but I didn't think you guys would noti-"

Tea shook her head. "No, it's Yami! Hahaha!"

Yami frowned. "What?"

Tristan and Joey started laughing simultaneously, followed closely by Yugi/Bakura.

"What?!" asked Yami again, irritated.

"Yo-your hair!" Tristan managed to gasp before collapsing into laughter once more.

Yami gingerly fingered his spiked hair. But it wasn't spiked anymore. The humidity and the hairspray in his hair didn't mix well, and the reaction caused him to have what looked like a 'fro. A multi-colored 'fro that bounced playfully in the summer sun. Yami growled and whipped a comb and a can of hairspray out of his pocket. He set quickly to work, carefully spiking his hair. After he put the hair supplies back in his pocket he raised the fan above his head and fanned his hair. Tea shook her head, plucked the fan from his fingers, and pulled a plastic bag out of nowhere. She wrapped the bag securely around Yami's hair, then sniggered as the picture met her eyes.

Yugi/Bakura, Tristan, and Joey had just picked themselves off the ground when they saw Yami's head wrapped in a plastic bag. They collapsed once more, tears of mirth streaking down their faces. Yami threw up his nose at them and strode into the KaibaCorp building. The others followed, holding each other for support.

Kaiba had just stepped out of the elevator when he saw Yami and his friends in the lobby, Yami wearing an exceptionally odd hairpiece.

Kaiba raised his eyebrows as he approached them. He nodded curtly to Yami, saying, "Nice hat, Yami." Yami growled again and whipped the bag off his head, stuffing it in Tea's pocket. Kaiba's eyebrows rose even higher, and Yami glared at him as if daring him to comment. He didn't take it.

Yugi/Bakura, sensing Yami's obvious bad vibes, spoke quickly, "We asked you to talk to us cause we need information on someone," he explained to Kaiba.

"So why me?" he asked.

"Cause your such an important person and all, you have the names of everybody in Domino and everywhere else."

"Point taken. Who do you want to know about?"

"A girl or woman named Niwatori."

At this Kaiba's eyes widened. The gang (I'm just gonna call Yami and the friends "the gang") looked at him curiously as anime sweat bullets appeared on his face.

"Erm Kaiba?" Tea asked hesitantly. Tristan and Joey had the sort of expression on their faces that suggested Kaiba be sent to an insane asylum, while Yugi/Bakura and Yami tried to make what they could of Kaiba's suddenly strange behavior.

"So you know her then, right?" Yami asked.

Kaiba snapped out of his daze and silently ushered them into an empty office. He shut the door behind them and snapped, "Of course I knew her! She was-well," he became very awkward all of a sudden.

"Yes" Joey leaned in, apparently very interested in the answer.

Kaiba scowled at him. "She used to be my girlfriend, okay?"


	3. Memories Forgotten

Chapter 3: Memories Forgotten

There was silence.

Complete, whole silence that coated everyone and everything. Until

"Um come again?" Joey asked.

Kaiba glared at him. "You heard me, dueling monkey."

Joey breathed steam. "Dueling monkey! Ooo, you dunnit now! You couldn't win a card game if all da best strategy guides were up your ass, you smelly old baka!"

Kaiba sneered elegantly at him as the color in Joey's face rose. Yami, feeling a fight coming on, hurriedly butted in.

"Erm, what do you mean, girlfriend, exactly?"

Kaiba shifted his attention to Yami. "What?"

Yami repeated the question.

Kaiba sighed, "oh, that?" sigh, "prepare for a flashback."

PAUSE

STOP

PLAY

RECORD

Niwatori Rea, age 12, leaned back in the chair she had chosen at the diner. Her friend (Sira) had set her up with a blind date, noticing her sudden boring behavior. Sira's excuse for setting a date for Tori (her nickname) behind her back was that she needed to get out more. And the bad part about that was she was right.

She didn't even know the name of this boy. Sira said that she would have to be surprised; otherwise she would have just backed out without even trying. Tori scowled. Sira could see right through her.

Fed up, Tori checked her watch. 8:50. This date was five minutes late. Super.

Then a figure loomed in the lamplights. Tori watched it get nearer and nearer, noticing how tall it was, about her height; this must be him.

As the features of his face sharpened, Tori gasped against her will. It was Seto Kaiba, a year older than her and one of the most popular guys in Domino Middle School. The ironic thing about it was that he seemed to not notice he was popular. He had no clique, no band of friends, just himself, the hot and cool Seto Kaiba. Nah. This couldn't be her date. It just couldn't. How could Sira hook her up with him? Impossible.

However, it seemed it wasn't. As he reached the diner, Seto's eyes roved the outdoor seating until they landed on her. Then he began to saunter towards her. Tori felt her cheeks grow hot.

As Seto neared the table containing his blind date, he couldn't help wondering if he imagined not wanting to go or truly did. At this very moment, he felt like he never wanted to leave. This girl's black hair lined with thin gold highlights shimmered it the lamps, her jade green eyes sparkling like light glancing off the surface of a lake. And she was tall; she matched his height centimeter to centimeter. However, he bottled up his raging feelings. He was supposed to be Seto Kaiba. Seto Kaiba shouldn't even be feeling these feelings. Sighing, he sat down across from her.

"Hello," he said.

"H-hi," Tori stammered. Maybe this date wasn't going to be so bad after all. Or maybe, she would make such a big fool of herself she'd never be able to show her face again. Ah, who cares? At least she could truthfully say she went out with Seto Kaiba.

Seto glanced at her thoughtfully. He was not one to beat around the bush, so he spoke up.

"You didn't expect me, did you?"

Tori was startled. That was quick. So she answered, "No, not really. I thought I was gonna be hooked up with a midget like Yugi." She laughed.

Seto smiled, his brilliantly white teeth flashing. Tori thought she was going into a coma. "Nah, just me." Then his expression changed, and he narrowed his eyes. "What do mean, hooked up?"

"My friend hooked me up with a blind date. You, it seems. Why do you ask?"

He leaned back in his chair. "Because you left a note in my locker telling me to be here."

Tori gasped in indignation. "I never!" then she growled, "Sira."

Seto glanced at her again. "Your friend?" Tori nodded. Seto abruptly changed the subject. "Are you sure this is the best place to meet? I don't know about you, but I like pizza better." Tori nodded her agreement again. She picked up her purse and the two left the diner to a pizza parlor, where the atmosphere felt much lighter.

Tori noticed how interested Seto was in the decorations of the parlor. It was messy, and yet showed a warm welcome to anyone who entered.

"You don't come here a lot, do you?" Tori inquired.

Seto shook his head. "No. Do you?"

Tori nodded energetically. "Oh, yeah. All the time! It's the best! The pizza is really good, but their not that expensive. What do you want? It's on me."

Seto shook his head again. "Nuh-uh, I'm paying, I'm the guy."

Tori glared. "I'm paying or when you buy that pizza I'm gonna shove it in your face."

Kaiba matched her glare with a cool glance. "What a waste of good pizza."

Tori seemed ready to burst until she suddenly calmed down and laughed. "I can't believe we're actually arguing over this. How bout this we each pay for each other's pizza. Sound fair?"

Seto nodded as Tori flushed and made a mock bow.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you very much."

After they ate their pizza and exchanged phone numbers and that sort of thing, the pair left the parlor and walked aimlessly down the road. They were finding out how much they liked each other very quickly, and agreed to go to a movie. At the theater, as they waited for the movie to begin, Signs (I dunno, maybe they show movies 2 years earlier in Japan? . ), their conversation turned to families.

"I live with my little brother, Mokuba, and my adopted father, Gozaburo. I like Mokuba all right, but Gozaburo…"

"Yeah?"

"He's just not right. No, no, no, he's dead wrong. The only reason he adopted me was because I beat him in chess when I was eight. He doesn't like me, you can tell, he only wants me to run his stupid company when I get older. And he completely ignores Mokuba, which really pisses me off. Sometimes I feel like I wanna sock him in the face."

"Wow. That must be tough. And I thought I had it bad," Tori sympathized.

Seto looked at her. "So tell me about your house."

Tori blushed. "Well, I live with a younger brother too, Teki, and my step dad. He's a real bum. At least he pays attention to us, though. But a little too much. Every little thing I do is monitored. I feel like I have to develop eyes in the back of my head to have some privacy. And he drinks a lot, sometimes. So I have a job, every weekend and an hour after school, to make money for everyone."

Seto stared at her. "Well at least I'm rich. Damn, we have it bad."

Tori looked at him with a scrutinizing expression. "Tut, tut, there are children present, so let's keep this rating at a down low, k?"

Seto glanced behind him and saw lines of children dotting the seats. He scowled. "I'll think about it. Anyways, what are they doing in this movie? It's supposed to be

PG-13."

Tori, also puzzled, peered at the screen and cursed loudly, causing kids to stare at her in delight and parents to glare at her. "We're in the wrong theater! This is Barney's Magical Mysteries."

Seto moaned. "We have to watch the gay dinosaur for two hours?! Nuh-uh, no way, lets get out of here."

Tori practically shoved Seto off his seat in her haste to get out. "C'mon, c'mon, hurry up before the misguided sexuality of that prehistoric piece of purple crap shuts down our brain and ultimately destroys our system!"

"You have a very creative imagination, don't you?" Seto asked playfully as they rushed out the doors.

Tori flashed a sparkling grin. "I passed Language Arts with flying colors and pissed off my teacher because of it, and that's all I can tell you."

Seto offered to walk Tori home later. She had agreed energetically, but both of them had overlooked one small detail.

"Um, Seto Where are we?" Tori asked uncertainly as they passed another corner.

"Uh Uh oh great, I don't think I know where your house is."

"Wow, what a prediction. Don't take that the wrong way."

Seto smiled. "I won't oh, now we're at the park. Do you know your way home from here?"

Tori nodded and said, "Yeah, I can go home myself, its oh my God, its 11:30 and a school night, I am so dead"

Seto grinned again. "Then I'll explain it to your step dad, ok? Show me the way."

"Nah you don't have to"

Suddenly he slipped an arm around her waist. "Come on" he persuaded, pulling her close.

This was a surprise. Tori raised her eyebrows. Hmm. Did he order a beer at the parlor? Nah. She could get used to this straightforward side of him. However, first she wanted to play hard to get, so she pointed at his chest.

"Are you coming on to me?"

He winked. "If that's what you want."

She tapped him on the head lightly with her fist and pulled away. "Maybe, but not now. I have a major math test tomorrow, if I fail, I won't get into eighth grade. You have to admit, this date was one good example of first impressions."

"Ohhhhh yeah."

She smiled at him shyly. "Call me."

Seto nodded. "Don't worry. I will. See you tomorrow at school, I guess."

"Yeah."

They stared at each other for half-minute longer, then abruptly turned around and headed their separate ways home.

As Seto walked in the huge doors of his mansion, Mokuba instantly waylaid him. They tumbled around on the couch until Seto pushed him down and pinned his arms to his side so that he was now on top of his little brother. Mokuba's soft eyes stared up at him in wonder and curiosity, weakening him a bit (but only a bit). Mercilessly he bore his fingers down, tickling him to his doom.

"Ahh-ah-ah, stop, no Seto, n-no, ahahahahaha!!"

"No! You're still awake, now you have to pay! Now what's my name?" he growled in a mock tone, tickling faster.

"Ahahahahaha! Un-uncle! Uncle!" Mokuba only squirmed and squealed more as tears started to form in the corners of his eyes from laughing so hard.

"Wrong!" Seto eased up a bit, then bore down again. "Now, for the last time what's my name?"

"SETO KAIBA!" boomed a familiar voice.

"Damn," muttered Seto under his breath as he instantly halted his torture. Mokuba looked slightly disappointed, like he wanted to be tickled to death for the rest of his life. (That didn't make sense, did it?)

Seto looked up at Gozaburo's face. It was a long way up. Craning his neck so that he felt it was gonna break, he smiled stiffly.

"Hello, honored father," he said haltingly, as if he really didn't think Gozaburo was honored. He clambered off his brother and bowed shortly like a stick that couldn't break. Mokuba landed next to him and copied. He did anything Seto did.

Gozaburo glared at them for a while, Mokuba squirming, Seto matching his glare with one of his own defiant ones.

"Mokuba, go to bed," Gozaburo ordered. Mokuba ran. "Seto" he started to pace. "Where were you?"

Seto scowled behind his back. "I was on a date." He instantly fixed his face back to expressionless as Gozaburo turned to look him.

He glowered darkly at his son. "A date?" he asked dangerously, as if it were a crime. "With whom, may I ask?"

Seto stared at him rebelliously. "Niwatori Rea, and you can't do anything about it." Long experience had taught him Gozaburo would do anything to set him apart from everyone else.

Gozaburo smiled deviously. "You'd be surprised. Now, go to bed, we'll talk tomorrow after school." When Seto didn't budge, he roared, "GO!" Seto wheeled around and walked deliberately calm to the stairs. Just before he started to go up, he fixed his adopted father with a hard sapphire glare that would one day become famous.

"One day, everything you do to me and Mokuba will send you to hell and you'll regret it all. But by then, it will be too late. Far too late," He snarled softly, and then dashed up the steps.

Tori got home with no mishap. Everybody knew where she had gone, so they where asleep. Sitting down in the study, the girl scribbled out some bills, set them on the rack to be sent out the next day, then got up and left. On her way to her room, she squeezed into her brother's and tucked him in nicely. Teki blearily opened one eye and held up his hands for a hug. Tori obeyed, kissing him on his head and saying, "Do you know Mokuba?"

Teki nodded groggily, muttering, "Yeah, he's my friend."

"Yeah, well I know his brother. Good night, kid."

He scowled sleepily. "What was the point of waking me up then? Ah well. G'night, si-hi-is yawn." And with that, he tumbled into his pillow and snored. Tori shook her head and backed out of the room, where she met her stepfather.

"So, Tori, how was your date? Who was it?"

Tiredly, she blinked up at him. "What?"

Mr. Rea patted her back. "Yeah, yeah, I know you're tired, go to sleep, it's-baka! 11:45! Go, we'll talk tomorrow."

"Roger that, Dad, g'night." She stumbled off to her room and collapsed into her bed without changing. What a night

The next day, Tori met up with Seto at his locker. Leaning against the locker right next to his, she smiled and said, "Hi, Seto. I just wanted to say I liked last night, and when do you think we can go out again."

Seto slammed the locker and leaned his head against it. Looking at Tori with worried eyes, he quickly spoke, "Tori, watch your back, Gozaburo is going to do something to stop us from seeing each other, and he might get a little extreme. He doesn't want me to see anyone, he wants me to be alone, like him."

Tori watched his face. "I can handle it, don't worry."

Seto stared at her. Such foolish bravery

"Tori, you don't know Gozaburo, he'll probably even threaten to kill to keep me like his pet. Last night I got a little extreme with him over you, and that wasn't a very good way to deal this out with him. Just watch yourself, ok? If he gets to you, nobody can stop him."

The girl sensed his worry and gazed at the floor. "All right, Seto, I'll watch myself." Then she raised her head to match his eyes. "But I'm not saying I'm not going to wait for him to come to me. I might have to hunt him out."

Seto leaned over and lightly kissed her head. The other students in the hall jeered or sighed dreamily. "I know," he said softly, then glared daggers at the other people, causing them to shut up on the dot.

Tori blushed. "Okay then bye oh great, bell's gonna ring, gotta go see'ya later!" she rushed off, trying to balance her books.

Seto half-smiled, then set off for his own class.

At lunch, Tori caught up with Sira, grinning, "Thanks for the blind date, Sira, I can't believe you manipulated Seto Kaiba!"

Sira wrinkled her nose as the lunch ladies slapped glop on her plate. "No biggie. I just copied your handwriting, it's not that hard, all I had to do was make my writing horribly illegible."

Tori smacked her head. "Shut up! That's not true!"

Sira grinned deviously and threw out the glop.

"Why did you buy that if you weren't going to eat it?"

"Hey, when I ordered this, I thought it was actually food for a change," She said defensively. "Sometimes I wonder if the lunch ladies are trying to poison us in their attempt to bring geeks to power and take over the world. Or something like that."

"Geek? Like him?" Tori indicated Yugi, sitting quietly at his table next to Tea. Sira sighed. "Aw, c'mon, he's no geek, he got detention last week for forgetting his homework again. And those idiots, Joey and Tristan, they're always hounding him; the only friend he has is Tea, and look how popular she is! Super popular!"

"Yeah, but she didn't get Seto Kaiba."

"Mmhmm. Yeah. Considering I hooked you up."

Tori stuck her tongue out at her and Sira winked.

Seto hardly picked at his lunch. The previous night still very much in his head, he mulled over what Gozaburo could possibly do. His mind came up with a thousand reasons. No, wait-a thousand-one. Oh, he couldn't think, the boys roaring around him bothered him more than before. Usually, he could sit here and ignore them, but today their noise was almost deafening. What really set him off was when the guy sitting next to him whispered in his ear, "You know, you and Niwatori look great together."

Then Seto did a most unexpected thing. He smacked the boy upside the back of his head, which launched his head straight into his sandwich. Thankfully for the boy, his abnormally large nose saved the rest of his face, by getting all the sandwich necessities on it instead.

The other boys cheered Seto on. "Yeah, you go, man!" They instantly returned to their previous engagements as Seto glared at them with a look that could cut through stone like butter. The guy next to him sheepishly wiped the sandwich off his nose and asked, "Hey, why'd you do that?"

"Keep your words to yourself, slimeball," he snarled. The boy, sensing the danger in his voice, hurriedly picked up his lunch and moved to sit somewhere else. Seto watched him go with an air of satisfaction. Hmph. Such idiots inhabited this world (I should know).

Then his mind returned to Gozaburo. Half-heartedly, he jabbed at the glop in front of him with his fork. Ugh. It smelled horrible. Glad to have something to do, he stood up and dumped it in the trash. As he turned go, he saw Tori sitting at her table playing the new game Duel Monsters. It wasn't a big hit yet, but some people had taken to it with a passion, including Seto. But he kept his stash of cards from Gozaburo, who would more than likely throw them out. And he couldn't practice with the staff; they were all informers for Gozaburo. Sometimes he played with Mokuba, but it was too risky in the mansion. So he mostly dueled online. He had to admit, he was pretty good.

Seto walked over to their table and peered at Tori's cards and the life point count on a piece of paper. Tori1100/2000 ???1600/2000. Tori had no monsters on the field or m/t cards, while the other had Doma the Angel of Silence in Attack mode, ATK 1600, DEF 1400, and one facedown m/t card. It was Tori's turn. She drew. A Curse of Dragon! She was about to slap it on the field when Seto stopped her. She looked up at him, puzzled, when he smiled and put one m/t card facedown and then put down Lord of D. in attack mode, ATK 1200, DEF 1100. The other girl smirked.

"I attack your Lord of D. with my Doma. Bye bye 400 life points."

Seto's lip curled. "Wait, she put a card facedown, remember? She activates Reinforcements, raising her Lord of D.'s attack points to 1700. Your angel is done. 100 lifepoints gone. Her turn. Now she plays the magic card Flute of Summoning Dragon. She summons Curse of Dragon, ATK 2000 DEF 1900 and attacks your life points directly-,"

"No, wait, I activate my trap card, trap hole!"

"That won't work. Curse of Dragon was special summoned, and trap hole only works with normal summon. And even if it could do that, Lord of D. protects all dragon types. In any case, you lose."

Tori gaped up at him in surprise. "Where did you learn to play like that?" she asked in awe.

"I duel online," he answered with a satisfied grin as the other girl collected her cards and sulked.

Tori blinked. "Wow."

Seto stuffed his hands in his pockets, gazed at her, and then left on a somewhat happier note than when he arrived.

After school, Tori caught up with Seto just outside the door. Before she could open her mouth, Seto grabbed her arm and pulled her under the cover of some nearby trees. He knew his car was here, and the guards would be waiting for him. And if Gozaburo really had something up his sleeve, he might have just told them to keep an eye out for Tori as well. When Tori faced him, baffled, he quickly explained.

"So what do you want?" he asked quietly.

"I want to know if we can go out again tomorrow."

Seto stared steadily at her. "We can't, not until we find out what Gozaburo is up to."

"I'm not afraid of him."

"Neither am I. There's no point in being afraid of him. We just need to be wary. Very wary." He looked intently at the ground. "We have to stop seeing each other anymore. Not until the old geezer dies or goes into a yearlong coma. Or when he lightens up." His lip curled angrily. "That'll be the day."

Tori's eyes shook. "No, no, this can't be the way, c'mon, we'll-we'll confront him, or something" tears welled in her jade orbs.

Seto impatiently brushed them away. "That won't do anything! He's more stubborn than a mule, not even a threat to his life will faze him! I'm telling you, we need to break up. Maybe, when he dies or something, we'll get back together, but if we stay together, I'm worried he'll even stoop so low as to kill. He cares more about how cold and arrogant and isolated the president of KaibaCorp is than how well they can run it. Or how their social life is going. He'll try something, Tori, to get me to be that, and I'm afraid he'll kill you."

At this, Tori froze. Then she began to tremble slightly, closing her eyes. The light in them seemed to have gone dead. She leaned her head against Kaiba's (it would've been his chest if she was shorter), saying, "I don't want to do this, I don't even think we have to, but if you say so then yes, we'll break up, but I'm not going to accept that. Never. Goodbye, Seto." She turned to go, struggling to hold in her tears, but was held back when Seto seized her arm. He pulled her back again, kissed her softly on the lips, then let go and shot out of the privacy of the trees. Tori stood dumbfounded for a while, then shakily touched her throbbing lips and wondered at its new use.

Tori slammed the door after she came home from work. It was terrible. She couldn't hold a plate right at all day, and her tears had been pushing at her eyes so she had trouble seeing where she was going. She stomped bad-temperedly over to the kitchen, hoping for a bite to eat.

"Hiya, Tori!" exclaimed Teki joyfully from his position at the kitchen table, the ingredients for a P&J sandwich literally scattered around him (hmm I wonder if he likes to chunk up his peanut butter with kitty litter). Tori simply nodded at her little brother's mess, her mind still giving her no rest over Seto's brisk dismissal. Teki, sensing his sister's sadness, slid off his chair and stood next to her, grasping her hand with a pea-nutty-jelly type mixture. She grinned half-heartedly, detaching her hand from Teki's and rolling the ick around with her palm. Deciding it was useless to act sadly in front of her little brother, she widened her smile and washed her hand in the sink. Then Tori lifted Teki up and washed his hands too, telling him he better pick up the mess he made. He agreed with a scowl.

When she dropped Teki on the floor, a white paper taped to the fridge caught her eye. Tori ripped off the fridge and read it:

I'm off to see Gozaburo Kaiba about your date, I think you should rethink going out with the Seto kid (wait a sec, did she ever tell her dad who she was going out with?), but don't worry, you still might be able to. I'm coming home at 3:30.. And don't forget to clean your room!

Tori's eyes widened. Off to see Gozaburo Kaiba bad thoughts and possibilities raced through her head. She instinctively looked at the clock; 4:30. Oh no

Her eyes swiveled back to the paper. What should she do? Then it hit her. Duh. Seto!

She dropped the note and hurriedly dialed in Seto's room number. The phone rang for a while, and then Seto's voice said, "What are you doing, calling me!? We have to stay apart, my calls could be monitored-,"

Too panicked to wonder at how Seto knew it was her-he probably had caller id or something-she cut him off quickly.

"It's too late, my stepdad already went out to see Gozaburo!"

There was silence on the other end. Then a soft, "Oh no, this can't be happening" Seto rapidly collected himself and hissed, "Well, he's not here anymore, Gozaburo is coming up to my room right now, I'd recognize those footsteps anywhere get out of your house, take your little brother, and look for him, I have to go-," there then was confusing moment where a loud pounding and a deep voice booming, "Seto, open the door!" sounded from the other side of the line. Then it went dead.

Tori slammed the phone back on its slot and grabbed Teki. She pulled him outside when the distinctive noise of a speeding car reached her ears. Tori hastily retreated into a clump of bushes, dragging the bewildered Teki along with her, covering his mouth with her hand. A car pulled up in front of her house and out tottered Mr. Rea, smiling drunkenly.

The car raced off again, and Tori shot out of the bushes as soon as her stepfather collapsed. His eyes fluttered open and closed, his breath rattling in his throat. Tori could tell he'd been drinking way more than was good for him. In a panicked tone she ordered Teki, who was standing quietly behind her, to get the cordless phone. He did so in a flash, and Tori hurriedly dialed the hospital. They came swiftly, bore Mr. Rea on a stretcher and ushered the children into the ambulance, where Tori held her brother tightly in her arms. She did not want him to witness a dying man.

By the time they got to the hospital, it was to late for Mr. Rea. He was marked DOA-Dead on Arrival-of a heavy overdose of alcohol. Teki and Tori cried into each other's shirts, knowing just what would happen. They had no guardian now. They would be sent to live with their mother, who had divorced their stepfather. They would have to leave Domino and live in Tokyo.

Pause

Stop

Play Back to Present Time

Again everyone was silent. Tea sobbed quietly into the plastic bag she had once wrapped around Yami's head. The rest (except for Yami) looked dumbfounded and stared at the floor. Then Yami spoke.

"So what happened after?"

"They had a quiet funeral and then they left for Tokyo."

"What happened to Gozaburo?" Yugi/Bakura asked.

"The old fool died of a heart attack a few months later. That was, of course, because I threatened to push him out a window. I told him he'd be sent to hell." Kaiba's eyes flickered, as though he relished the memory of that day.

Yami, after thinking deeply for a while, wondered aloud, "Is it possible we can contact this Sira? She seems to have known Niwatori closely. Your story was all very informative, but we need to know where she is now, and how she acquired such power to kill he way she did." Then he quickly related the story of what happened to the man in the hospital parking lot in answer to Kaiba's questioning look.

Kaiba closed his eyes as he digested this information. Then he slowly opened them again. "Even if you ask Sira or anybody in the world about her, you'll never find out where she is. There's one problem that'll hook you all just like it hooked me."

"What?" everybody asked, clearly wishing to know what could possibly hook them.

Kaiba kept his eyes lowered as he said flatly, "She's dead."


	4. New Deadlines

Chapter 4: New Deadlines

Tristan and Joey immediately made crosses with their fingers and showed them to everyone, practically screaming, "Ah, it's a ghost, come back to haunt us, WAAAAHH! I don't wanna die!"

Meanwhile, Tea had abandoned her plastic bag and let it fall on Yugi/Bakura's head, who snatched it off and stuffed it once more in Tea's pocket. "Dead?" she whispered. "But how?"

Kaiba's face showed no emotion, but his eyes held an angry spark that refused to go away.

"The plane they were on crashed halfway between Domino and Tokyo. When the police came to check it out, they found no survivors. None at all."

"Gozaburo's doing?" Yami asked. Even he was in shock.

Kaiba shook his head. "No, he was just as surprised as I was when he heard about it. But he wasn't unhappy about it, either."

Yugi/Bakura scowled. "Well, I for one, no matter how nice Niwatori used to be, think she's still a jerk. She thought I was a geek!"(As far as I'm concerned, you're not a geek until you do the hokey pokey in front on the president with barney)

Joey stopped his paranoid ghost-repelling ceremony and shrugged. "Well, I wouldn't put it past you, buddy" he had to run fast to avoid Yugi/Bakura's angry swing.

Yami sighed, "Stop it, Aibou. Yes, this is all very puzzling, but we can't stop here. Kaiba, just tell us where Sira is and we'll bother you no more."

"It's too late for that," Kaiba said. He whipped out his cell phone, talked into it for a while, and then snapped it shut and opened the door to the office, motioning for them all to go out. They left the building into the bright sunlight, making them all blink rapidly. Then a limo drove up and a chauffer opened the door.

Kaiba got in and the gang followed, glad to be out of the harsh rays of the sun.

"So where are we going?" Tristan asked as the limo revved up and started off.

"The Domino City Gym. Sira hangs out there more than she does at home."

"?"

"Ever since the plane crash she became very paranoid."

"Ah," everybody acknowledged, although they had really no idea what he meant.

A few minutes in silence passed. Then suddenly Yugi/Bakura slid of his seat, clutching his bandaged head and sweating. He began making anguished noises, like that of a wounded animal, triggering Yami to drop down next to him and shake him roughly.

"Aibou! What's going on? Aibou!"

"Ow, stop that Yami uugh it hurts"

"What hurts?! Yugi! Answer me!"

By now Tea, Tristan, and Joey were looking very frantic. Yugi/Bakura had started to roll on the floor, his face taught with pain, his pupils shrunk to a pinpoint. Kaiba simply stared.

Then, almost as quickly as it began, Yugi/Bakura's convulsions ceased and he relaxed, lying down with his head on Yami's lap. Yami, almost hesitantly, asked quietly, "What happened, Aibou?"

"Bakura's dying," he answered softly. "He needs that Eye soon, or when he goes out, I will too. I didn't save him, I only bought him some time."

Tea clutched Joey's hand and closed her eyes. Tristan eyes almost took up all the room on his face, while Kaiba inquired, "Anybody care to fill me in?"

Tristan told him what Yugi had done at the hospital. Kaiba listened silently.

"So why does he need the Eye? I thought it could only read minds.(if you read my mind now, you would see a picture of my sis on da floor obeying my every command oh well, I can dream)" He asked after he got it all.

Yami sighed and lifted Yugi/Bakura back on his seat. "Most people don't know it, but the Eye has some healing powers. That's why we need it back."

The limo stopped and everyone looked out the window to see the gym. The chauffer opened the door and everyone stepped out, batting their eyelids against the sun. Yami supported Yugi/Bakura up, who wrestled against him.

"Yami, let go, I'm fine now."

"Nuh-uh."

"Yami, I took a frying pan from the hospital before we left, I had a feeling I would need it again. Remember last time I got sick?"

Yami's face went white and he let go of him. Last time Yugi got sick with the flu, Yami had become very nuts and tried to force him to eat dead bugs (ancient Egyptian remedies, maybe?). He didn't let Yugi outside his room at all, even after he got better, until one day Yugi sneaked out and took the art of frying pan whacking lessons with Joey and Tristan, being the non-violent type he was. When Yami had found out he was gone and stormed out to get him back, he was faced with his one very small counterpart armed with a very menacing frying pan. Ever since, Yugi had taken to carrying it around, threatening to smack Yami in the face if he ever forced him to do anything again.

Just now, Yugi/Bakura drew the frying pan out of his pocket (maybe he had huge pockets big enough to fit a frying pan in it? . ). The rest of the gang, remembering the Ruling Days of the Frying Pan, tried their best to hold in a good laugh. It proved fruitless, as they started to lean on each other in order to stand up. Kaiba stared at them like they were crazy.

Yugi/Bakura started to swing the pan threateningly. "Mr. Frying Pan wants to meet you again"

"Ahh! Yugi, no aaahh!" he skipped backwards to avoid having a flat nose for the rest of his life (he managed, unfortunately). Yugi/Bakura tucked the pan away, pleased by Yami's aversion to the kitchen utensil.

Yami skirted into the gym, followed by Yugi/Bakura, Joey, Tea, Tristan, and lastly Kaiba. They stood unsurely in the entrance hall, unsure (well, duh, why else do you stand unsurely?), until Tea spotted a service desk and they walked over to it.

"Um excuse me?" Tea asked timidly. The secretary looked up at her from the top of her glasses, but instead of answering her she faced Kaiba.

"Well, hello Mr. Kaiba!" she exclaimed shrilly. "So nice to see you! Your inventions are wonderful, I bought a d-,"

"Save the unsatisfactory hellos for American movie stars. I want to know where I can find a girl named Sira," Kaiba butted in shortly.

The secretary was shocked. "Mr. Kaiba, you're a CEO, you shouldn't be-,"

"I don't care. Tell me what I need to know."

Affronted, the secretary huffily jabbed at the keyboard to her computer and replied coldly, "You can find her in the martial arts room, go down that hall, tenth door to your right, sir."

Kaiba left without a thank you. The rest gave her an apologetic look before following.

When everybody entered the tenth door to their right, they sorely wished for air. It smelled horribly of sweat and deodorant. Yugi/Bakura gagged. Yami, alarmed, moved toward him, but stopped when Yugi/Bakura made a move as to draw a frying pan from his pocket.

Tea got their attention by tapping them all on the shoulder and pointed at the middle of the room. A large mat was placed there, with a woman and a man standing on it, dressed in white karate uniforms and black belts. The man and woman bowed to each other then lifted their hands in that weird kung-fu fighting style. A loud bell sounded somewhere, and the man lumbered forward toward the woman, who ducked underneath his waving arms and kicked his back so that he fell face flat on the mat. She allowed him to get up, and then helped him to the wall by grabbing his arm and throwing him across the room, where he slumped to the ground, breathing heavily. The woman helped him stand, and he suddenly aimed a fist at her face. The spectators positioned around the room howled angrily, yelling, "Unfair!"

Despite this, she ducked easily and leaped into the air, kicking at his head. When she landed on then ground she directed a flurry of blows toward him and he blocked, albeit barely.

With an unexpected twist to the right, the woman tried to slam her fist into his skull. The man brought his hand up to meet it and succeeded, but that distracted him long enough for the woman to drop to the floor and sweep her legs around in a circle, tripping him over as she leapt up again. With a move so fast it was almost invisible, she shot her foot at his head. She was going knock him out!

Or not. A bare inch from his head she halted, her poise balanced perfectly. She was hardly even sweating as she whispered, "Yield."

He held up his hands. "I yield."

The woman smiled coldly and removed her foot. She left the mat to the congratulations of the people around her, but waved them off and snatched up a bottle of cold water. Half of its contents went down her throat. At this point, Kaiba walked leisurely behind her, saying coolly, "Long time no see, Sira."

She froze and her shoulders tensed. Carefully screwing the top back on her bottle, Sira snarled without turning around, "Kaiba, I've had enough of you. Go away."

"Hey, I know you!" Yugi/Bakura suddenly exclaimed. "You were in my math class last year, weren't you?"

At this Sira whirled around. "Yugi?" her eyes traveled over them all and landed on Yami. She frowned. "When did you get so big?"

"No, I'm here!" Yugi/Bakura yelled.

She looked at him and blinked. "Aren't you Bakura?"

He groaned. "No, that's my Yami, and yeah, this is Bakura's body, but-"

"Are you talking about the Millennium Items?" Sira interrupted, staring at the puzzle around Yami's neck. The gang seemed taken aback."How do you know about those?" Yami and Kaiba demanded at the same time, and smiled at each other, then remembered they hated each other and turned away.

"I guess Kaiba-boy told you I got paranoid?" Kaiba scowled at this statement. (he looks cute when he does that, doesn't he?) "Well, I just so happened to come across some ancient Egyptian legends about a pharaoh and other people linked to eight millennium items-,"

"Eight?!" the gang exclaimed.

"Yeah," Sira said, searching their faces with a puzzled expression. "The Puzzle, containing the soul of the pharaoh-that must be you bows to Yami-, the Ring, containing the soul of the tomb thief-yes, I've seen Bakura with it, don't tell me why he doesn't have it now, not yet-, the Eye, the Rod, containing the soul of-oh, I forgot-, the Scale, the Ankh, the Tauk, and the Circlet, contai-," she broke off when she noticed Joey in the corner of the room trying to lift a huge weightlifter.

"Look everyone, I'm strong!" he yelled with exaggerated strain as he heaved up the weight. "I can li-," he fell over backward with the weight on his chest, wheezing.

Everyone face faulted, anime style.

"You see, Joey," Tristan started, exasperated. "That's why we can't buy you nice things."

"Cough just get this crap rasp off me!" he pleaded.

Yugi/Bakura shook his head. "Sigh our comic relief."

Tristan shrugged at Joey. "Sorry bud, looks like you're stuck."

"Oh, come on, I can get him out." Sira said, and lifted the weight long enough for Joey to crawl pathetically out.

"Hey, why'd you do that?" Tea asked. "The world was much better off with him down there (hm one point for my side! )."

Yami glared at them all, getting them to pay attention to him. "If we're all done fooling around?"

The others agreed sulkily, and Yugi/Bakura muttered, "Workaholic." He shut up quickly when Yami glowered at him.

Directing his attention to Sira, he said, "I guess you need to know all that's been happening before we came now." And with that he told her everything, since Bakura's scream outside of school all the way to the end of their limo ride to the gym.

"So you see, we need to know what information you have on Niwatori. She's dangerous, and we have to stop her. And we need to get the Ring and the Eye to save Bakura and Yugi."

Sira sighed. "Very well then. I'll tell you. First off, Tori and Teki aren't dead. I know it."

"But the crash-," Kaiba started.

"Yes, yes, I know, the crash, but let me tell you this. I was at the airport when she left. Before she went, I gave her something. I shouldn't have, but I did. You don't know how much I regret it"

Sira shook her head to clear it before starting again.

"I had it ever since I fished it out of the gutter. It was so shiny, it attracted my attention so much, so I took it. But I never put it on. It just didn't seem right to me. And I didn't tell anyone about it. But when Tori's dad died and all, I kind of felt it was meant for her. And I just gave it to her, ignorant of its powers, its might"

"What are you talking about?" Kaiba whispered.

She closed her eyes as wetness started to line there. "I gave her the thing that assured her greed, her capability, but I never told anyone, they wouldn't believe me if I told them"

"What?" Kaiba asked again.

"I gave her the object that killed all those people on the plane except for her and her brother, I gave her a device that could control the world!" Sira cried hotly. Her voice dropped to a whisper as she opened her eyes, allowing the tears to flow from them freely. "I gave her the only thing that could promise her complete power I gave her the mysterious, almighty Millennium Circlet, and with it, she rules all."


End file.
